Within the past couple of weeks, another scandal that the NCAA is all too familiar with reared its head again. A recent FBI investigation into the NCAA and its basketball coaches produced alleged evidence of Arizona University Wildcats coach Sean Miller discussing payment for star freshman forward DeAndre Ayton to land at the school.
The FBI, who wiretapped conversations between Miller and an associate from the ASM Sports agency, showed that there were multiple discussions to secure Ayton’s recruitment to the Wildcats by way of a $100,000 payment.
Moreover, the FBI report does not only target the Arizona University basketball program. The damning FBI probe lists several high-caliber programs, including Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas and Michigan State. The probe links these programs to impermissible payments to more than 20 college athletes.
The athletes who were allegedly getting paid were not a bunch of no-name bums either. The report listed that current Dallas Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. received $73,500 and former number one pick Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz received $10,000 in impermissible payments either before or during their college basketball careers.
Back in 2011, eight University of Miami football players were suspended for varying numbers of games because they received and accepted gifts and payments from Nevin Shapiro, a university booster who personally paid the athletes and treated them to nights of entertainment for recruiting purposes. Former University of Southern California superstar running back Reggie Bush was forced to give back his well-deserved 2005 Heisman trophy after it was discovered that he received close to $300,000 in payments from third-party agents.
The NCAA continually punishes athletes on the receiving end of the benefits, though the programs often do not receive a punishment of the same kind of severity. The athletes are only receiving the compensation that they truly deserve, just not in the way that the NCAA wants it.
Cleveland Cavaliers superstar forward LeBron James remarked that the NCAA is a corrupt organization while taking questions after a practice. He gave a quick nod to the corruption by giving an idea of his potential recruiting process to powerhouse D-I schools.
“Me and my mom was poor, I’ll tell you that, and they expected me to step foot on a college campus and not go to the NBA? We weren’t going to be poor for long,” James said.
LeBron’s comments served to call out the long-standing corruption of the NCAA. The organization has been characterized by greed and selfishness whilst building its financial strength.
The NCAA is built off the ideals that because the student-athletes are amateurs, they should not be paid. It uses the basis of an education to defend the choice not to pay its athletes. The governing body believes that the compensation that these student-athletes deserve is given to them through their education. However, it has become apparent that a considerable number of the top-flight athletes attending these large institutions are not, in fact, receiving adequate schooling.
At North Carolina University, over a two-decade period, a large number of student-athletes participated in “paper classes,” which required no attendance and only one paper.
The “academic” values that the NCAA claims to uphold fall low on the hierarchy of importance. It fails to provide an adequate level of education that would justify not providing the student-athletes with legitimate compensation.
The hypocrisy of the NCAA is highlighted in its refusal to pay its athletes. In previous years, the revenue from the D-I March Madness tournament produced close to $1 billion.
With the introduction of the College Football Playoff for Division-I FBS football, the revenue of the NCAA shot up once again by way of ticket sales. And this is on the backs of the very players that provide them with the exciting product that allows them to make this kind of money.
Yet the NCAA continually refuses to pay its deserving athletes. The players who are so valuable to the NCAA do not receive the necessary credit for driving the revenue of the organization up the wall.
If the players are so important to these programs, their importance should be reflected in an appropriate level of compensation. You would not give Disney bucks to a person for their weekend trip to Caesar’s Palace.
The student-athletes who dedicate long hours to their craft to put out a consistent product on the field should be paid with the funds that they produce with their play. Until the NCAA forks over the check that so many of its student-athletes deserve, it should be known as a corrupt system that mooches off hardworking athletes that do not see a dime.The FBI, who wiretapped conversations between Miller and an associate from the ASM Sports agency, showed that there were multiple discussions to secure Ayton’s recruitment to the Wildcats by way of a $100,000 payment.
Moreover, the FBI report does not only target the Arizona University basketball program. The damning FBI probe lists several high-caliber programs, including Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas and Michigan State. The probe links these programs to impermissible payments to more than 20 college athletes.
The athletes who were allegedly getting paid were not a bunch of no-name bums either. The report listed that current Dallas Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. received $73,500 and former number one pick Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz received $10,000 in impermissible payments either before or during their college basketball careers.
Back in 2011, eight University of Miami football players were suspended for varying numbers of games because they received and accepted gifts and payments from Nevin Shapiro, a university booster who personally paid the athletes and treated them to nights of entertainment for recruiting purposes. Former University of Southern California superstar running back Reggie Bush was forced to give back his well-deserved 2005 Heisman trophy after it was discovered that he received close to $300,000 in payments from third-party agents.
The NCAA continually punishes athletes on the receiving end of the benefits, though the programs often do not receive a punishment of the same kind of severity. The athletes are only receiving the compensation that they truly deserve, just not in the way that the NCAA wants it.
Cleveland Cavaliers superstar forward LeBron James remarked that the NCAA is a corrupt organization while taking questions after a practice. He gave a quick nod to the corruption by giving an idea of his potential recruiting process to powerhouse D-I schools.
“Me and my mom was poor, I’ll tell you that, and they expected me to step foot on a college campus and not go to the NBA? We weren’t going to be poor for long,” James said.
LeBron’s comments served to call out the long-standing corruption of the NCAA. The organization has been characterized by greed and selfishness whilst building its financial strength.
The NCAA is built off the ideals that because the student-athletes are amateurs, they should not be paid. It uses the basis of an education to defend the choice not to pay its athletes. The governing body believes that the compensation that these student-athletes deserve is given to them through their education. However, it has become apparent that a considerable number of the top-flight athletes attending these large institutions are not, in fact, receiving adequate schooling.
At North Carolina University, over a two-decade period, a large number of student-athletes participated in “paper classes,” which required no attendance and only one paper.
The “academic” values that the NCAA claims to uphold fall low on the hierarchy of importance. It fails to provide an adequate level of education that would justify not providing the student-athletes with legitimate compensation.
The hypocrisy of the NCAA is highlighted in its refusal to pay its athletes. In previous years, the revenue from the D-I March Madness tournament produced close to $1 billion.
With the introduction of the College Football Playoff for Division-I FBS football, the revenue of the NCAA shot up once again by way of ticket sales. And this is on the backs of the very players that provide them with the exciting product that allows them to make this kind of money.
Yet the NCAA continually refuses to pay its deserving athletes. The players who are so valuable to the NCAA do not receive the necessary credit for driving the revenue of the organization up the wall.
If the players are so important to these programs, their importance should be reflected in an appropriate level of compensation. You would not give Disney bucks to a person for their weekend trip to Caesar’s Palace.
The student-athletes who dedicate long hours to their craft to put out a consistent product on the field should be paid with the funds that they produce with their play. Until the NCAA forks over the check that so many of its student-athletes deserve, it should be known as a corrupt system that mooches off hardworking athletes that do not see a dime.
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